I have been reviewing chapters from Paul Pruyser’s classic work of pastoral theology, The Minister as Diagnostician. That it was published in 1976 and is still readily available in print says a lot about how valuable the ideas are that he presents.
The heart of the book is a discussion of seven diagnostic variables that can be in the mind of pastors as they talk with parishioners, and as they reflect on their own life. The words ‘diagnostic variable’ sound very clinical. Pruyser was a clinical psychologist. But he wanted pastors to stop pretending to be psychologists themselves and use ideas from their own discipline of theology. People seek out pastors, after all, because they want to see their lives interpreted in a religious or theological light.
Here are the seven variables:
- Awareness of the Holy. What fills me with awe? What would I sacrifice myself for?
- Providence. What is the divine purpose toward me?
- Faith. Do I embrace life or shrink from it?
- Grace or gratefulness. Where is kindness in my life? Where is forgiveness? Is there a gracious spirit in my living?
- Repenting. What do I regret? How do I want to change?
- Communion. Am I embedded with others, or estranged from them?
- Vocation. What is my life’s purpose in my remaining years?
It’s not a matter of asking directly, “Tell me about your awareness of the Holy.” It’s more the art of having these ideas in mind as you go about your pastoral work and letting them shape your thinking about people’s lives, as well as your own life. I find these seven ideas very useful to have in mind, and it’s been good to refresh my memory of them.
..The diagnostic variables mentioned sound good..but the following 12 suggestions may be more effective on a practical level and do more good in actually helping someone,..in my humble opinion
Step 1 – We admitted we were powerless over {fill in blank} – that our lives had become unmanageable
Step 2 – Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
Step 3 – Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God
Step 4 – Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
Step 5 – Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
Step 6 – Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character
Step 7 – Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings
Step 8 – Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all
Step 9 – Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others
Step 10 – Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it
Step 11 – Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out
Step 12 – Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs
There is a little known Step 13: We ate a donut and took a nap. (-:
…….very funny :/